Lion burgers on the menu, courtesy of Homer Glen dealer

June 24, 2010

A Mesa, Ariz. restaurateur serving lion meat as part of a limited-time promotion during South Africa's hosting of the World Cup said he was alarmed to learn that the Homer Glen exotic meat dealer supplying the meat has been in trouble with the federal government for illegally selling endangered species.

"This is the first I've heard of this," Cameron Selogie, owner of Il Vinaio restaurant, said after learning of Czimer's Game & Sea Foods past troubles. Owner Richard Czimer was sentenced to 6 months in prison and slapped with hefty fines in 2003 for selling "lion" meat that proved to be meat from endangered species, including tigers.

Il Vinaio is serving a burger that's a mixture of lion meat and plain old ground beef for $21.Selogie said he acquired the lion meat through an Arizona-based distributor and that he routinely checks the backgrounds of companies he does business with, but "we can't obviously go to every farmer ourselves."

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Selogie said since news about the lion burgers broke, he's heard from animal rights protesters, received hundreds of e-mails and even got a bomb threat.

"Frankly, I'm a little shocked with all the problems in the world today, with the oil spill and immigration, that people have this much time to talk about 10 pounds of lion meat," Selogie said.

When reached by telephone at his residence, Czimer replied that he does not take business-related calls at home.